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Lets not forget that the Turkmen President famously won the nations richest horse race (what a surprise)...and then....( I can guarantee you that this video is not available in Turkmenistan!)

Equestrian was obviously an egregious inclusion in a “Indoor and Martial Arts Games,” but the program was still composed of mostly of martial arts and indoor sports. Tennis even had an indoor arena for the Games. It might be best to think of the AIMAG as the Asian Mini Games. In fact, the 2013 edition in Incheon served as a test event for the 2014 Asian Games. I don’t have the souvenir program for the opening ceremony, but I do have the link for the media guide: http://media-cdn.ashgabat2017.com/ckeditor_assets/attachments/642/ashg2017_343_cer_opening_ceremony_media_guide_rgb_final_8_1_4_2.

Ashgabat 2017 was a really successful multi sports games. Turkmenistan hired a mostly foreign workforce that had experience working on Olympic organizing committees, and other large international events. They wanted the Games to look and feel like a miniature Olympics/Asian Games. The OCA even invited all of the Oceania NOCs to compete for medals at the Games. I remember watching that ceremony live. The artistic segments were very good, but the “President” of Turkmenistan got something like 20 minutes of applause. I believe the host broadcaster (IGBS) started their broadcast on delay so they could edit down a bunch of the gratuitous applause for the president and other dignitaries. The opening ceremony media guide is still available for download on the Ashgabat 2017 website if you want to understand what you’re watching. As much as the 2017 AIMAG were a success, Turkmenistan should not be awarded with further chances at hosting multi sports games. Their human rights and press freedom record is on par with, or worse than, North Korea. If you’ve seen any footage of sports events from the Games, you’ll see that the government of Turkmenistan essentially forced their citizens to fill all the arenas during the Games. They even trained them up like the North Korean cheerleaders we saw at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Plus, Turkmenistan added a bunch of Belt Wrestling events to program, so they could artificially inflate their medal total to win the medal table and make their country look great in front of their citizens. It’s also worth nothing that special event was to the equestrian (a sport which was neither held indoors nor a martial art) program at the last minute. This event was the Akal Teke Cup, which featured only traditional Turkmeni Akal Teke horses. The President of Turkmenistan owns almost 600 Akal Teke horses, and some claim he even has a fetish for them. Of course many of the horses used in the event were owned by him. So he essentially held a pageant for his favorite children, and then awarded medals for that.

Turkmenistan is a funny place...went a few years ago....sometimes ranked BEHIND Nth Korea in freedom indexes! But unlike Nth Korea (and the other Stans) it is enormously wealthy with gas. And they blow the money on crap like this, streets lined with marble palaces etc...

What’s that? Suicide for fear of death? Never in a million years would athletes en masse go for that idea.

I'll believe it when I see it. Does the United States really want to boycott 2022 knowing it all but guarantees that China won't be here in 2028. And we know how big of a deal that was for them to show up in LA in 1984. If Trump gets re-elected (G-d help us if that happens), I'm sure he'll push for a 2022 boycott because someone will plant the idea in his head and he'll rile up all his supporters, and they'll force the USOPC's hand to cave in. If Biden wins the election?.. not sure sure he'll push so hard to make that kind of political statement, especially without a groundswell of other politicians pushing him for it. And I don't think that's going to happen. Should there be a more coordinating worldwide effort involved here, that's a different story. But again, how does the United States or France or Italy become a part of that when they're in bed with the IOC and did so after they had already awarded an Olympics to China? Because then that torpedoes the value of their investment and I'm not sure that's a route they'll want to be forced into. Let alone LA 2028 who is NOT backed by the government and relies on private funding. So that hurts them big time if a country representing 1/5 of humanity (as they reminded us with their 2008 pitch) isn't in attendance, and who knows what other countries might join them in solidarity.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/olympics/howzat-cricket-pitches-for-olympic-games-glory-in-brisbane/news-story/31eb5fdef791e8d6caf5a768c28ad61eBr

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/latest-news/queensland-government-confirms-lucrative-ballymore-upgrade/news-story/0e50e5eecae12aaa2d4cc1220bb1ccf3 https://www.smh.com.au/sport/qatar-bid-should-put-queensland-s-2032-olympic-hopes-on-red-alert-20200729-p55glv.html

Having watched the behind the scenes overview of the Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony, I actually liked the design of the stadium back then compared to now. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/50/44/ea/5044ea68a0bb29db59037f3a937652cc.png

Also on the night of the first dress rehearsal, the “swimmers” on the wires during Deep Sea Dreaming failed to go up.

The Sydney 2000 Opening Ceremony started almost a disaster. During one of the rehearsals, the G’Day banner broke

it's okay. you can say "americans," I agree lol.

I made this video about the 1936 US Olympic Basketball Team that was comprised of Universal Studios employees. It was the first Olympics that ever included basketball, and the US took home the gold! It's a little-known story, but has so many interesting facets across the board. It was relatively controversial just for the team to attend. I hope you enjoy the video!

Been a joy to relive London 2012 this weekend - they've basically played out the official DVDs on screen over the last few days with the directors cut of the Opening Ceremony and seven and a half hours of games actions featuring plenty of presentation from the BBC at the time too. Unsurprisingly the Closing Ceremony is left off the repeat agenda. One thing though that really stands out, and it is nothing we didn't discuss at the time, is the cauldron. One of my favourite lightings ever but was a huge shame it didn't shine bright over the city - and even when the athletics stadium opened it was basically shoved in a corner and we saw it far more on the stadium screens than in place in the stadium.

Maybe in the long run, Uighurs and HK will be a bigger (PR) problem for 2022 than Covid-19, if they have a vaccine for that. But yeah, the IOC didn’t care about Human Rights in 2008 and they won’t in 2022. There might be however athletes willing to take a risk and speak up during the Games. That’ll be quite a show then.

How hosting most of the AFL can boost Queensland's Olympic bid Source: https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/how-hosting-the-afl-can-boost-queensland-s-olympic-bid-20200716-p55ckk.html

Who cares about fair? This is the IOC we're talking about. I'll believe in boycotts when I see them. You really think the USOPC would boycott an Olympics in China knowing it's almost certain that China would decline to come here in 2028? No shot. And should Tokyo not be able to host next Summer because of the pandemic, do you really think the IOC would punish themselves and tell China they're a no go? Right now is a pretty bad time for Olympism. Let's hope the state of the world, both in terms of the pandemic and other human rights issues, gets better in the next 12 months. I'm hopeful the virus can be reigned in to the point it's safe to have sports again (I plan on doing my part for that on November 3rd), but considering it was no secret that China did not in fact clean up their act after the 2008 Olympics, clearly the IOC does not consider human rights issues a dealbreaker.

Interesting find. Who would have guessed that Hong Kong, set to be transferred to China in 1997, would have a billionaire who was willing to "donate" Beijing's 100,000 seater stadium.

I mean, it's only fair that they are punished and equally get their games cancelled if Tokyo loses them. Even if they did not caused the pandemic, the fact that their lies and constant cover ups of the virus evolution which have also been exposed by either WHO's own dumbness or Taiwan (a country which China loves to isolate from everything and yet they managed to manage this disaster much better than many other countries) is still there. Even without the cancellation the shadow of a boycott is stronger than ever and Hong Kong might be the excuse the West will use to justify it. Let's hope nothing of this happens, but if Tokyo is cancelled next year get ready for the worst years for Olympism since WW2.

Agree with the logic of postponing Birmingham for 4 years. Hamilton hosting in 2026 instead of 2030 would just be annoying (I feel the same about LA 2028 and kind of hope if Tokyo doesn't happen they'll rejig things so LA happens in 2032!) . Is a real shame Singapore has yet to host the Commonwealth Games - they would be a great host city.

I guess the cauldron would have to sit on the roof - not much space outside the Stade de France for a freestanding one, so it's either on the roof or an in stadium version like London, though smaller stadium cauldrons and another one in the city seems to be the way hosts are going.

Did they edit out the dropping and extinguishing of the torch at 1.19.00? That was the best part!

The French have this proclivity to do strange things with their ceremonies. And they like to do outdoor/"theatre in the streets." 1. weird Albertville 1992 ceremonies 2. Med Games 1993 - held lakeside, or by a beach in Languedoc-Rosillon. (There's a partial clip of that on UTube.) 3. this FIFA 1998 World Cup 4. Jeux de la Francophonie 2013 in Nice when the OC was held at the Place Messina (the public square) in Nice. I hope they don't f*ck up 2024 with their weirdness. Oh, well, Cirque du Soleil just filed for bankruptcy becuz all their shows in Vegas closed -- and of course NO TOURING shows either.

A potential SEQ Olympics logo https://imgur.com/9jc68Kq

There’s maybe an argument at this point to say give Birmingham 2026 & cancel 2022. Would give the World Athletics Championships & their athletes the space they need, 2022 is a very cramped summer. Although obviously it’d be best of all if they can find a host for 2026 & keep Brum - I like the Commonwealth Games, it’s very sad to see them in so much trouble

So, the UK have always had a hill sufficient enough to hold alpine skiing events, even downhill, and we're just now hearing about it? If this is the case, why haven't the UK ever put in a bid to host a winters games.

If it's physically possible, Glasgow would be better than London surely #curlingscominghome